How fast do lilies grow?
by Catlicious
Summary: Katniss wonders if her little girl is growing up too fast. Post-Mockingjay. One-shot.


**A/N: Hi! I had this idea for a while so I decided to try it. It's just a little snippet of how life is going for the Mellarks. I hope you like it! And if you feel up to it, review!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

It started out slow.

One day, my six-year-old daughter refused my help getting dressed. I didn't think much of it at the time. I figured sooner or later she would figure out how inapt I was at color coordination, and my general lack of fashion sense, and decide it was better to start picking up her own clothes (though I also wondered whether Auntie Effie had anything to do with it). But a week later Lily decided she no longer wanted me to prepare her breakfast. Whether it was toasting some bread or preparing cereal, she wanted to do it _herself_. I reasoned it made sense that my daughter knew how to do things by herself and ignored the slight pang of hurt and disappointment of hearing her say "I don't need you to do it Mommy." My breaking point came a couple of weeks later when Lily absolutely forbade me from helping her take a bath. She protested and argued, claiming to be a "big girl", and denied me entrance to the bathroom.

I didn't know how to feel. That had been our ritual since I could remember. I would give Lily a bath while singing children's tunes and after she was dry and dressed, I would comb her long, flowing dark hair that reminds me so much of my own, and braid it. But Lily didn't seem to want that anymore. Instead she wanted to do everything by herself.

The next few hours passed in a blur. I vaguely remember Peeta coming home from the bakery, his greeting in the form of a short sweet kiss, or his questions about our day. I zoned out through dinner, ignoring my husband's worried glances and focusing on observing my little girl instead, making sure I didn't miss any detail about her. For some reason it felt like I was running out of time. My anxiety grew as their bedtime grew closer. But everything went on as usual (a bedtime story, a kiss on the forehead and a sweet, sleepy "goodnight mommy, goodnight daddy") and Lily and Rye were both fast asleep on their beds.

Peeta found me in the living room, lost in my thoughts.

"Ok, that's it. What's going on?"

I turned my head towards him, startled by his presence.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been out of it all day. What happened?"

He might be my husband now but that doesn't mean all my walls and insecurities are gone. I still feel like I'm still inside the arena every now and then and that I must be strong and can't show any weakness. How can I possibly tell Peeta what's been bothering me? I think he can see the reluctance and fear in my eyes because the next thing I know he's on the couch next to me and holding me in his arms.

"Hey, it's me Katniss. You know you can tell me whatever it is"

"It's… silly. Ridiculous even." He waits patiently for me to go on. "It's about Lily."

"What about Lily?" he asks, his tone more worried now. "Did something happen today? Is she ok?"

"No, no, she's fine," I quickly assure him. "It's just that… she didn't let me bathe her today."

"What?" He took my face into his hands, forcing me to look up at him. "She didn't let you _bathe_ her today? Is that why you're so upset?"

"I told you it was ridiculous!" I quickly defended myself. "But it's not just that! She doesn't want my help getting dressed anymore," Peeta raises one eyebrow at me. "Ok, I know my fashion sense isn't the best but still… And she didn't want me to make her breakfast either! Breakfast Peeta, the only thing I can actually cook!"

My breathing starts getting labored and my voice rises a bit.

"Katniss-"

"No, don't Katniss me! This all I have Peeta! I can't cook, I can't sow or heal, there's nothing I can teach our daughter!"

"You can hunt-"he started to say.

"I'm not teaching our six-year-old daughter how to _hunt_! Not unless it's absolutely necessary. Admit it! There's nothing else I can do with her and she's slipping away from me!"

I was near hysterics at this point, all the fear and doubt I've harbored this past few weeks finally coming out along with a few old insecurities.

"Stop it!" Peeta grabbed my wrists and sat me back on the couch. "Breathe, just breathe." We just sat like that for a few minutes while I calmed down. "Katniss, you just said it yourself, she's _six_, she's not going anywhere. She's _not_ getting away from you, she's just growing up but that doesn't mean she doesn't or won't need you anymore. And about teaching her things? Maybe you can't show her how to hunt or to cook but you _can_ show her how to shoot with a bow and arrow or how to pick pretty, _non-deadly_, flowers or even," his fingers touched the tip of my hair, "how to make the most amazing braid I've ever seen."

"But I don't want her to grow up!"

"I know, me neither but she has to. And she'll make mistakes and have all sorts of doubts and she'll always need your help. Besides, she's just a little girl right now and she'll stay that way for a while."

He kissed my forehead.

"You promise?"

"I swear. Besides," He goes on, now grinning. "Whose fault do you think it is?"

"What? How is this my fault?" There was no way he was going to blame this on me!

"Where do you think got the stubbornness and need for independence from? Certainly not from me."

He laughed when I looked at him with indignation and kept laughing as I got off the couch and went to the bathroom. Despite the joke at my account, his words kept running through my head. _"She's still a little girl" "She'll always need your help"_.

That night, Lily seemed determined to prove him right. Around 2am I woke up to the creak of the door and the pitter patter of tiny feet before her sweet voice reached my ears.

"Mommy?"

I gently turned towards her, trying not to wake Peeta up.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I had a nightmare," she told me, her little voice trembling while her eyes filled up with tears. "We were in the woods and there was a bear and Rye was crying and I couldn't find you or daddy and-"

She kept getting more and more agitated until no more words could come out of her mouth. I picked her up and held her in my arms.

"Shhh, it's ok," I soothed her while stroking her hair. "It was just a dream, it's not real sweetie, it wasn't real." We stayed like that for a bit while she calmed down. "Do you want to sleep with me and daddy tonight?"

I felt her nod against my shoulder so I laid her down on the bed between me and Peeta who I noticed now had his eyes open. He must have woken up with her crying. He took her tiny hand into his and kissed it.

"It's ok, little bug. It was just a nightmare," he assured her. "Besides don't you think mommy would have shot the bear before it could get to you and Rye?"

Instead of waiting for an answer, he ticked her and she let out a small giggle, her little eyelids dropping, heavy with sleep.

We just stood there, holding her and stroking her hair, being lulled to sleep by the sound of her breathing. Just before I could fall back asleep, Peeta locked his blue eyes to mine and whispered softly "See? Still a little girl."


End file.
